Join us for a double-bill of fabulous documentary films under the moon in downtown Montreal. Tadamon! will be presenting two excellent films reflecting on struggles against land theft and colonization in Palestine and Turtle Island. Presented as part of the mobilization for the demonstration “400 years of colonialism and militarism: nothing to celebrate!” in Quebec City on July 3rd.

A Tadamon! interview project aiming to highlight progressive voices from the ground in Lebanon on the ongoing conflict, voices independent from major political parties…

As negotiations in Doha, Qatar continue between national political leaders in an effort to reach a settlement to the contemporary internal conflict in Lebanon, Tadamon!’s Ola Hajar spoke with veteran journalist Anthony Shadid. This interview focuses on the impacts of U.S.-driven policies in the Middle East within the context of the ‘war on terror’ and their specific impacts on Lebanon, also this interview focuses the U.S. position towards Hezbollah’s role in Lebanese politics.

Lebanon is currently facing a major political crisis, as armed battles have erupted in multiple districts in Beirut, battles between pro-government forces and the political opposition backed by the Lebanese movement Hezbollah. Currently the Lebanese capital is divided, as opposition forces maintain a hold in West Beirut, having handed control in certain districts to the Lebanese Army, while the western-backed Lebanese government remains in lock down within government buildings.

Today Lebanon’s government has maintained a contested hold on official state power in Lebanon without representation from Hezbollah or other opposition parties for over one year. This week the government announced that Hezbollah’s independent communications network or telephone system operating in Lebanon as illegal, sparking the current crisis. Hezbollah’s independent telephone or communications system is considered to be a critical element to the success of the Lebanese resistance to Israel in successfully halting Israel’s 2006 attack on Lebanon.

Administration cancels workshop critical of Canadian support for Israel…

Call for Solidarity: Montreal, 21 April 2008

ASSÉ, CALEB and Tadamon! denounce the decision of a Montreal college to cancel a presentation critical of Canadian support for Israel. The workshop, scheduled to have taken place today, was canceled after the administration of Collège Bois-de-Boulogne came under pressure from supporters of Israel. This attack on basic freedom of expression is all the more disturbing because it occurs on a campus.

Egyptian police shot and wounded two Africans, from Mali and Kenya, who tried to slip over Egypt’s desert frontier into Israel on Sunday, security sources said.

Escalating police violence at the Egypt-Israel border has left 11 would-be infiltrators dead since the start of the year, while scores of others, mostly from Africa, have been detained. Police killed an Eritrean migrant at the border on Thursday.

BEIRUT: Nearly 300 people have been killed or injured in South Lebanon by unexploded ordnance dropped by Israel just before the cease-fire that halted the 2006 summer war, and more than half of the areas originally contaminated by cluster bomblets have yet to be fully cleared, according to the United Nations Mine Action Coordination Center for Southern Lebanon (MACC).

The results of a new MACC overview of its functions in Lebanon were released to the public Friday in order to mark, in part, International Mine Action Day. MACC field officer Dalia Farran discussed the results of the study, noting that “since the 2006 [summer war] cease-fire, 965 locations contaminated by unexploded ordnances have been identified throughout the 39 million square meters that constitute South Lebanon.”

BEIRUT: In the wake of the summer 2006 war, Beirutis were witness to a curious contest. All over town red-and-white billboards, in Arabic, French or English announced “I Love Life.”

Appearing early in the political wrangle that has riven Lebanon’s citizens into two camps, the ad campaign seemed apolitical. Yet, as it implied the Other are more interested in killing and martyrdom than enjoying life, the ad was explicitly partisan.